For most of us, Christmas will have been a time to spend with our family, catching up on news and sharing our own tales of the year.

But for autistic man Kenny Scrase, Christmas was just a visit from his father and sister on Boxing Day.The reason? They live here in his home town of Reading, while he has to live 130 miles away in a care home in Dover.

IT WAS a lonely Christmas for Kenny Scrase, 33. Diagnosed with severe autism, he is being cared for in a home in Dover in Kent and saw his father, Ken and sister, Julie, only on Boxing Day when they made the 260-mile round trip that they manage just once a week.

The situation was not a happy one either for Mr Scrase senior, from Grove Hill, Emmer Green, who claims social services staff have ignored his pleas to move Kenny closer to home where he and his family could visit more often.

After more than two years of urging Reading Borough Council to find a more suitable care home for Kenny, Mr Scrase is now writing to new chief executive Trish Haines to lodge an official complaint.

He said: "I can't believe that the only place for autistic adults in England is in Dover but

whichever way I turn I can get no help.

"I used to be able to visit him three times a week but I can't get to Dover more than once a week and it often takes 10 hours to get through the traffic and back.

"My priority is to get my son back to where he was born and I tell myself if I keep on to Reading Borough Council hard enough and long enough, maybe they will buy him Buckingham Palace just to get me off their backs."

Mr Scrase and daughter Julie wrapped Christmas presents for Kenny for a visit before Christmas, including a book on trains and traditional male "smellies". It was the first time for six months that Julie, who used to run the Wobbly Parrot Rescue Centre in Reading, had visited her brother.

Mr Scrase said it was important for Kenny to have a regular routine, so he visited every week.

Kenny was formerly housed in Cressingham Road in Reading but was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and moved to Fair Mile Hospital after an incident when he attacked another resident.

Mr Scrase admitted his son mounted the attack but said it had been provoked.

He added: "He was continually punched, bitten and thumped for about 18 months by another resident and decided he had had enough.

"He has been in Dover for over two years and hasn't attacked or attempted to attack anyone.

Down there the staff look on Kenny as a loveable character.

"The attack is the reason he was moved, but I believe there are places nearer to Reading where he could go."

Mr Scrase admits Kenny has showed his unhappiness through self-harm and has been treated in hospital five times in Dover after hurting himself.

However, over the last two years Mr Scrase has taken it upon himself to phone residential homes in Berkshire and south Oxfordshire and some said they had vacancies and could cater for his son Kenny's needs.

Councillor Pete Ruhemann, Reading's lead councillor for social services, said he

sympathised with Mr Scrase's desire to have his son living in Reading.

He said: "I have assured myself that officers are

exploring all avenues to achieve this subject to the paramountcy of his complex care needs being fully met."

A council spokesman declined to discuss details of Kenny Scrase's personal affairs without his

permission - even though Kenny cannot physically talk or speak for himself.

However, it is believed social services staff were concerned about his unpredictable behaviour and history of self-harm and believed care homes nearer Reading could not meet

Kenny's needs.

The spokesman said: "We must ensure that individuals with challenging needs are kept safe from harm, including self-harm, and to ensure that regular reviews are undertaken to ensure that this is the case.

"Our intention and policy is to try to return people to Reading wherever their care needs can be met locally.

"In some cases, because of their particular needs, perhaps because of specifically challenging needs or where local care providers have been unable successfully to provide care in the past, placements out of Reading and occasionally at some distance have to be used."

The council said it had to ensure that care homes were able to meet a range of needs including health care, psychological, psychiatric and social needs.

The spokesman added: "Achieving all that locally is the aim and we welcome Mr Scrase's continuing commitment to work with us to seek the right local solution in this case to which we remain committed."

Reading East MP Jane Griffiths said she had written to Reading Borough Council on Mr Scrase's behalf on a number of occasions.

She said: "My understanding is the council are working hard to find a residential place for Kenny but so far they have not been able to and Mr Scrase has been left feeling very upset and frustrated.

"For one reason or another the homes have not met the guidelines they have to keep."